Worcester concerned about ‘getting played’ by Pawsox

It's true that two city councilors in Worcester have suggested that the city make a pitch to the Boston Red Sox's
Triple-A affiliate, whose new owners want to move out of Pawtucket and are struggling to reach a deal with Rhode Island officials on a public-private partnership in that state's capital.

But Tim Murray, a former Massachusetts lieutenant governor and current president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, said he can't imagine the city's business community getting behind an effort to lure the PawSox — again.

Two decades ago, the club's previous owners flirted with a move to Worcester when Rhode Island officials dragged their feet on a $13 million renovation project at McCoy Stadium, the state-owned ballpark where the PawSox play their home games. The team ultimately got its renovations and stayed in Rhode Island — leaving many in Worcester feeling they had been used for leverage, according to Murray. "I don't think anybody is interested in getting played twice," he said.

The PawSox, for their part, said through a spokeswoman that they "remain focused on Providence."

"We are working hard to reach a renegotiated agreement with the state," said the spokeswoman, Patti Doyle. "No other sites are being considered."

John Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, also owns The Boston Globe. — CALLUM BORCHERS

Now, Ayoub is going to be counting much larger denominations for the Memphis hospital: He became the board chairman of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities this month. The nonprofit's mission is to raise the money and awareness needed to fund St. Jude's operations. Ayoub expects the group to raise nearly $1 billion in donations and grants this year.

Ayoub, a real estate lawyer at Nutter McClennen & Fish in Boston, has always viewed the Associated Charities group as an extension of his family.

His parents were actively involved in the organization, and his 21-year-old daughter, Lizzie Ayoub, has performed at many St. Jude fund-raisers and penned a song that's based on the hospital's work. Ayoub has been on the group's board since 1992.

It doesn't bother him that the hospital is 1,300 miles away. Its impact, he said, can be felt in Boston and around the world, as lessons learned from caring for children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses at St. Jude are widely shared in the medical community.

"Our protocols are used in hospitals everywhere. It happens to be based in Memphis, but it's really an international research and care center." — JON CHESTO

Boston-based Bingham McCutchen LLP had lots of problems before it collapsed last fall and was taken over by the Philadelphia firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Losing Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. as a client didn't help.

In an interview with a trade publication that was released this week, MassMutual's chief attorney was blunt about why the Fortune 100 insurance company dropped Bingham. It came down to the 123-year-old law firm's lack of diversity.

Bingham had no African-American equity partners in its Boston or Hartford offices, Mark Roellig, MassMutual's general counsel and executive vice president, told Bloomberg's Big Law Business. The firm has one Hispanic and one Asian partner in those offices, Roellig said.

"Were we using Bingham McCutchen? Were we making it clear that we value diversity and wanted to see improvement? Absolutely. But you get to a point where enough is enough," Roellig said in the interview. "We've had it, and it's time to move on."

MassMutual said it worked with Bingham McCutchen for five or six years, but stopped sending it new work in 2013.

A Morgan Lewis spokesman said that diversity is important to the firm and pointed out that its chair is a woman, Jami Wintz McKeon, and that several partners are people of color. But like many large law firms, Morgan Lewis still has work to do, the firm said. — DEIRDRE FERNANDES

As part of Yahoo's turnaround effort. chief executive Marissa Mayer personally announced the hiring of a Shrewsbury native, Lisa Utzschneider, as the company's new global revenue chief.

Utzschneider, a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, was formerly Amazon.com's vice president of global advertising, where according to Advertising Age magazine she lifted revenues with a data-driven approach to mobile and video ads.

Utzschneider left Amazon last year to join Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Before that, she spent a decade in sales at another West Coast technology giant, Microsoft Corp. —MEGAN WOOLHOUSE

Can't keep a secret? Tell us. E-mail Bold Types at boldtypes@globe.com.